This disclosure relates to an image forming apparatus, and more particularly relates to an image processing apparatus which has a standby mode in which the image processing apparatus is ready for executing image processing and a low power consumption mode which consumes lower electric power than the standby mode.
In recent years, multifunction peripherals (MFP) which have a plurality of functions are used in many offices. In many cases, a multifunction peripheral is used in a condition in which a multifunction peripheral is connected to an information processing terminal such as a personal computer through a network such as a local area network (LAN).
Such multifunction peripherals widely adopts a function of switching, in an unused state, an operation mode from a mode in which electric power is supplied to the entire multifunction peripheral to a low power consumption mode (a sleep mode) in which power consumption is reduced in order to reduce environment loads. Even in the low power consumption mode, electric power is supplied to a part which has a function related to reception of an instruction through a network such that an operation may be performed whenever a signal (a packet) is input thereto from an information processing terminal through the network.
A conventionally known network devices is equipped with a power control section that repeatedly performs on-off control of electric power that is to be supplied to a communication control unit, which communicates with an external devices, for the purpose of further reducing power consumption. In this technique, an off period within a period in which on-off control of electric power is performed by the power control section is set to be shorter than a transmission interval between signal transmissions from an external devices. The power control section stops the on-off control of electric power according to reception of a transmission signal from the external devices, and turns on electric power that is supplied to the communication control unit.